Indian TV host Arnab Goswami arrested in suicide case

Indian police on Wednesday arrested Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, Indian media reported.

A police official said a team of Alibaug police picked up Goswami from his residence in Mumbai. Goswami, who was seen being pushed into the police van, claimed police assaulted him at his home while being taken away.

In 2018, an architect and his mother committed suicide over alleged non-payment of dues by Goswami's Republic TV, the official said.

In May this year, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had announced that a reinvestigation was ordered on a fresh complaint by Adnya Naik, daughter of the architect Anvay Naik.

Deshmukh had said Adnya alleged that the Alibaug police had not investigated the alleged non-payment of dues from Goswami's channel, which she claimed drove her father and grandmother to suicide in May 2018.

The Editors Guild of India has condemned the arrest of Goswami.

Many BJP leaders – including Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also condemned the arrest.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra government Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik called the arrest “Part 2 of India's Most Wanted.”

As per a Republic TV report, over a dozen officers of the Mumbai Police reached the residence of Goswami without summons, documents or court papers. He also claimed that he was manhandled by the police and pushed into their van during his arrest. Police allegedly also blocked Republic Media Network's employees Niranjan Narayanswamy and Sanjay Pathak from entering the journalist's residence.

The arrest comes a day after the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh called Arnab Goswami 'the biggest hawala' operator in the city of Mumbai.

"The courts of the country are watching this absurdity and the planting of falsehoods despite their observations cautioning the Mumbai Police from such unprofessionalism. The multiple U-turns of the Mumbai Police show that it is floundering as the fake case has collapsed. The Mumbai police has tried to blackmail and coerce random people into naming Republic. The CBI now has a copy of the tape of their witness coercion. This witch-hunt will end soon because more and more people have seen through Param Bir Singh’s tactics. I am absolutely certain that we will get justice from the courts," Arnab said in a statement.

In total, Republic Media Network's management & editorial staff have faced over 150 hours of questioning in a variety of cases like the TRP fraud.